The fires of war raged across the mountains.

Prince Ling’s soldiers, having fought all day, should by rights have been utterly spent — yet perhaps being cornered had reignited their fighting spirit, for they now surged forward with unstoppable force, each one fighting like a man already resigned to death.

Yun Xi, outnumbered from the start, had managed to hold the line through formation alone, but under this reckless, suicidal onslaught, her front lines quickly fell into disarray.

Gaps kept opening wider and wider. Seeing things turning bad, Yun Xi raised her crimson-tasseled spear and cut down several enemy soldiers who had broken through the line, and was about to close the gap herself when a scout came running up: “General, the western shield-and-armor battalion can’t hold against the enemy’s assault — they’ve broken and scattered!”

Yun Xi took one sweeping glance and quickly gave the order: “Have them fall back to the mountain hollow behind us and use the terrain to hold the enemy off.”

“Yes!”

Before this scout could even retreat, another arrived with a report: “General, the light cavalry can’t break through the enemy formation. Commandant Cui asks whether they should try circling around from behind the mountain.”

Hearing this, Yun Xi frowned at once, called over a soldier to fill the gap she had left, and climbed to higher ground to survey the battlefield. She saw that Prince Ling’s central formation had shifted toward the mountainside, protected on both flanks by the terrain, leaving only the rear approachable. But with Prince Ling’s forces so numerous, if the light cavalry pushed deep into enemy territory, they risked being wiped out before they could even break the formation.

Yun Xi’s original plan had been to use the main formation to hold off the enemy while the light cavalry created chaos within their ranks, buying time until Wei Jie’s reinforcements arrived. With that plan now compromised, she had no choice but to order: “Have Cui Yu bring his men back.”

The light cavalry had always been the Zhongyong army’s sharpest spear, nearly unstoppable on the open plains — but constrained by this mountainous terrain, even this spear had grown dull.

Cui Yu soon returned, reining in his horse at the base of the rise to report: “General, the enemy’s assault battalion is pressing too hard — the front line is on the verge of collapse. Shall I take the light cavalry to flank them instead?”

Yun Xi looked at him but gave no immediate answer.

The light cavalry excelled at breaking through enemy lines, but using a spear as a shield was of little use.

She looked out again at Prince Ling’s army. In truth, she understood why these enemy soldiers fought so fiercely — having become rebels, they faced only victory or death, and had no choice but to fight for their very lives.

But if this relentless assault continued, she feared her Zhongyong forces would collapse within another quarter hour or so.

Having survived a hundred battles, Yun Xi had long since mastered the art of remaining calm even as mountains crumbled before her — the more dire the crisis, the more clearly her mind could focus. Her gaze swept across the soldiers charging and clashing across the mountainside, and slowly, she found herself recalling the final battle against the barbarian enemy, back before she’d left the northern frontier.

It had been a fierce, drawn-out battle. Yun Xi remembered — she had been only eleven years old at the time. Yun Shuguang, clad in silver armor, had pointed toward the barbarians fighting desperately across the grassland and asked the two siblings behind him: “Luo’er, A’Ting, why do you think these barbarians fight so hard?”

“Because they have no food to see them through the winter,” Yun Luo said. “If they lose this battle, they won’t be able to seize our stores of grain, and they won’t survive the winter.”

Yun Shuguang nodded. “So sometimes, defeating the enemy doesn’t require exhausting yourself in direct combat. Attacking the mind matters more.”

As he spoke, he called over a subordinate and had a false rumor spread across the grassland — that their own granary had caught fire.

Before half an hour had passed, the barbarian forces, who had been fighting with unstoppable momentum just moments before, collapsed entirely without a single blow struck against them.

That was it!

A single thought flashed through Yun Xi’s mind — the line between soldiers resigned to death and soldiers broken by grief was, in truth, razor-thin. The key lay in belief.

She immediately asked Cui Yu: “Wang’an is at Chuien Palace, correct?”

“Wang’an?”

“The Fifth Prince.”

She held no hope in Emperor Zhaoyuan, but she trusted Tian Ze and Tian Si.

“Go to Chuien Palace at once and find the Fifth Prince. Ask him to find some way to get me a set of Palace Front Command commander’s armor and banner. Go yourself, personally!”

“Yes!”

Having given Cui Yu his orders, Yun Xi then had a soldier nearby fetch a burly man with a booming voice from among the troops, and was about to have a horse brought for him when, to her surprise, Cui Yu came back already carrying the banner and armor.

Yun Xi was startled: “That quickly?”

Cui Yu grinned. “It turns out the Fifth Prince had already secretly arranged people to assist us. The moment he heard the general needed Palace Front Command armor, Eunuch Tian had it prepared immediately. Also, the young prince sent word that he’s already gathered the Household Guard troops, and the moment the Fifth Prince and His Majesty secure an imperial order to open the palace gates, he’ll come to our aid at once.”

Though the Household Guard numbered only a few thousand, under Cheng Ye’s command they could still be considered a formidable force.

Yun Xi nodded, saying with satisfaction: “Good!” She then had the burly, loud-voiced soldier change into the Palace Front Command armor and instructed him: “Mount a horse and ride through the ranks waving the banner, spreading word that the Palace Front Command has mustered and is about to arrive as reinforcements.”

“Yes.”

Yun Xi then turned to Cui Yu: “Once Prince Ling’s army learns the Palace Front Command is coming to reinforce us, their formation will surely fall into disarray. Watch for that moment, then lead all our soldiers in a fierce assault against Zhang Yue’s forces specifically.”

“Only Zhang Yue’s forces?”

“Yes. Ignore everyone else — target only his men, and strike without mercy,” Yun Xi said.

Prince Ling’s army was a coalition of allied forces. The advantage of such an alliance was sheer numbers, but its weakness was a lack of true unity.

Though Yun Xi wasn’t especially familiar with any of the enemy generals, as a fellow military commander, she had some understanding of Zhang Yue’s character.

Zhang Yue, much like Pei Lan, was deeply self-interested. Once word spread that the Palace Front Command was coming to reinforce them, his first instinct would surely be to pull his own troops back. If, at that moment, the Zhongyong army focused its full force only on him while leaving the other formations untouched, he would grow resentful and afraid, and his retreat would only deepen into a full withdrawal.

At such a critical juncture, if even one force within the coalition retreated, the rest would collapse without even needing to be defeated.

Yun Xi gazed out into the depths of the mountains. The night was no longer as thick and dark as before; the sky had begun to pale — dawn would break before long.

Just before daybreak, word that the Palace Front Command was coming to reinforce Yun Xi indeed spread across the mountainside like wildfire. Hearing this, Zhang Yue and Xuanwu tensed at once, summoning the soldiers ahead to ask urgently: “Is it confirmed the Palace Front Command is coming to reinforce that Yun woman?”

“The man waving the banner in the mountains was indeed wearing Palace Front Command armor. We’ve already sent men to investigate — the Palace Front Command’s main force is at the foot of the mountain near Chuien Palace. If they’re coming, they should arrive within the quarter hour.”

Xuanwu and the others exchanged glances, about to discuss how to counter this, when another soldier hurried forward to report: “General Zhang Yue, something terrible — hearing that reinforcements are coming, the Zhongyong army’s morale has surged, and they’ve already broken into our formation!”

Hearing this, Zhang Yue immediately ordered: “Have the vanguard fall back first!” Then, turning to Xuanwu and Huaiji: “I need you both to flank and support us immediately!”

With the enemy bearing down, regrouping the army was the wisest course, and doing so required a force to absorb the pursuit. Zhang Yue’s men took on that role, while Xuanwu and Huaiji, without hesitation, immediately drew troops to assist him.

Yet it proved useless — the Zhongyong army seemed to bear some personal grudge against Zhang Yue, pursuing and striking only at his forces without pause.

Zhang Yue, burning with anxiety, was about to pull his entire army back when Xuanwu said: “Wait a little longer. Pei Lan has already led troops to the mountainside south to rescue the hostages. Once the gunpowder there detonates, Pei Lan’s men will surely suffer heavy losses. Without Pei Lan’s help, that Yun woman, with merely ten thousand-odd troops, will hardly still be a match for us. Once we’ve wiped out her Zhongyong army, we can tear open a breach in the Palace Front Command’s ranks — and if we can break through into Chuien Palace, we’ll have won a complete victory!”

The light on the horizon grew steadily brighter, the clouds already tinged with dawn’s glow, when suddenly a thunderous boom shook the entire mountainside, sending dust and stones flying through the air. From a low ridge to the south, a thick plume of smoke and ash rose skyward, spreading outward across the land like a billowing cloud.

The gunpowder had finally exploded.

Zhang Yue let out a breath of relief. Earlier, a foot soldier had reported that Pei Lan had led several thousand men up the mountain — by this, it seemed Pei Lan and his troops must now be either dead or wounded.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Yue glared at the Zhongyong army still relentlessly pursuing his own forces, and was about to launch a counterattack when, as the smoke cleared, several columns of soldiers appeared on the southern mountainside.

At their head was none other than Pei Lan!

Zhang Yue and Xuanwu were both stunned: “What — what is going on?”

Huaiji quickly sent scouts to investigate; they soon returned: “Reporting to the three generals — we’ve been tricked! General Pei never actually led his men up the mountain to rescue the hostages at all. He had several hundred horses carry empty suits of armor up the mountain instead, while he and his troops lay in ambush at the base, creating the appearance of a large force. Since it wasn’t fully light yet, our men couldn’t tell clearly and mistakenly believed they were already on the mountain, and lit the fuse prematurely.”

“Pei Lan never went up the mountain? But… but didn’t His Highness say Pei Lan would surely go up to save the hostages?” Xuanwu said, alarmed. “Didn’t His Highness say this was Pei Lan’s best chance to prove his loyalty?”

It had indeed been Pei Lan’s best chance to prove his loyalty.

And Pei Lan had genuinely intended to risk the gunpowder explosion to go up the mountain and rescue the hostages.

He had even considered that even if he were buried beneath a mountain collapse and gunpowder blast, as long as he demonstrated his loyalty to Emperor Zhaoyuan, at the very least the lives of the entire Pei household could be spared.

But just as Pei Lan was about to climb the mountain, Cheng Chang had stopped him.

It was Cheng Chang who told him: “Why not try something first.”

He said: “Use these exhausted horses and suits of armor to test whether there’s really gunpowder up there. If there isn’t, there will still be time for you to go up and rescue the hostages afterward.”

He had also said: “I trust A’Ting. Even against overwhelming odds, even fighting the weak against the strong, she can defeat Prince Ling’s army. If the path of rescuing the imperial clan doesn’t work out, General Pei, why not try trusting A’Ting as well? You have nothing to lose by it, after all.”

Cheng Chang knew nothing of military strategy, but having crossed swords with Prince Ling so many times, in matters of life and death, he understood him all too well.

The reason Prince Ling had tied the hostages up on the very mountain where the gunpowder was buried was precisely because he had calculated that Pei Lan would certainly go to rescue them. He meant to use the tactic of dividing enemy forces to easily defeat Yun Xi and Pei Lan, then preserve his strength for a final decisive battle against Xuan Zhi’s Palace Front Command.

But what Prince Ling had calculated, Cheng Chang had calculated as well — as the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles.

The earlier news of the Palace Front Command’s impending reinforcement had already thrown Prince Ling’s army into disarray; and now, before the Palace Front Command had even arrived, Pei Lan had already struck first into the enemy ranks. Zhang Yue, whose earlier urge to retreat had been suppressed, now let it resurface fully, and without regard for Xuanwu and Huaiji’s objections, immediately pulled his remaining forces back.

But this was not yet the worst of it. The next moment, the thunder of galloping horses rose from the southern side of the mountains, and a general clad in silver armor, spear in hand, arrived with several thousand reinforcements.

It was Tian Ze — he had finally persuaded Emperor Zhaoyuan to open the gates of Chuien Palace, and Cheng Ye had arrived with the Household Guard’s imperial troops.

The moment Cheng Ye reached the battlefield, he directed the Household Guard to break through and cut down the enemy, then rode swiftly to Yun Xi’s side: “Forgive my late arrival, General Yun.”

Yun Xi smiled and said heartily: “Young Prince, you’ve come to my aid in the nick of time — I couldn’t be more grateful. There’s nothing to forgive.”

Seeing that, despite a full night of exhausting battle, she still carried herself with bright, spirited ease, Cheng Ye felt somewhat relieved, and glancing around at the surrounding terrain, said: “Your troops have mostly fought on open plains and aren’t familiar with the terrain of Mount Pingnan. Leave this to me — General, you focus on commanding the Zhongyong forces.”

With the enemy still bearing down, Yun Xi did not stand on ceremony, and immediately handed command over to Cheng Ye, turning her crimson-tasseled spear and riding forward to rejoin her own Zhongyong troops.

If spreading the false word of the Palace Front Command’s reinforcement had been the first step, meant to deceive the enemy, and relentlessly pursuing Zhang Yue’s forces had been the second, meant to sow discord among them, then Yun Xi’s plan now had one final step remaining — turning soldiers resigned to death into soldiers broken by despair.

Both types fought in desperate circumstances, cornered with no way out.

But there was a difference: those resigned to death fought with everything they had; those broken by despair simply fled.

The reason soldiers resigned to death fought so fiercely was not only because they had accepted they would die, but because they still held onto some faint hope of survival. Yun Xi had already extinguished that faint hope through her false rumor — now there was only one final step left to turn them into truly broken, despairing soldiers.

Arriving at the front of the Zhongyong lines, Yun Xi spoke to the soldier who had earlier posed as the Palace Front Command commander: “Mount your horse again and wave the banner once more, spreading word that His Majesty has issued an imperial decree — in consideration that most of today’s rebel soldiers were merely deceived by others, he has decided to show special mercy: those who surrender will not be killed.”

“Yes!”

With their last shred of fighting will stripped away, and a path to survival suddenly appearing where there had seemed to be none, these rebel soldiers no longer had the heart to keep fighting.

Though still outnumbered, Yun Xi, Cheng Ye, and Pei Lan now led their troops in a three-pronged assault against Prince Ling’s army, sweeping forward with unstoppable momentum. Of Prince Ling’s forces, only Huaiji’s division still held on with any effort; after Zhang Yue’s retreat, the rest had already fallen into complete disarray.

Both sides had fought for so long, and were so exhausted, that by now the close combat had lost all order, chaos spreading across the entire mountainside, turning Mount Pingnan into a sea of blood. Seeing that the Palace Front Command’s troops still had not arrived, Huaiji, still hoping to hold out, was about to send someone to persuade Zhang Yue and Xuanwu to return — when he suddenly heard an even denser, more urgent sound of galloping hooves.

The Palace Front Command’s imperial guards might not be coming — but that did not mean no other reinforcements would.

Just then, a soldier came stumbling and scrambling to the front to report to Huaiji: “General, it’s — it’s terrible! Lord Wei has arrived with reinforcements from the Imperial Guard Bureau. And with Lord Wei came General Xuanwei of the Marquis of Zhongyong’s household. The moment General Xuanwei reached Mount Pingnan, he saw Commandant Cao of the Inspectorate Bureau relaying signals at the foot of the mountain, and… and cut him down with a single stroke of his blade.”

Cao Yuan was no weakling when it came to combat — by skill alone, he could even be considered outstanding. But the man he had encountered was Yun Luo.

Hearing Yun Luo’s name, the remaining soldiers were all struck with dread.

Among military commanders, the names Zhongyong and Xuanwei resounded across the land — how could their reputation not inspire terror?

Hearing this, Huaiji too felt a wave of defeat rising within him. He glanced back toward the rear, trying to find Prince Ling, then gave the order: “Forward camp, cover our retreat! The rest of you, fall back with me!”